CAT | Music
It’s now been about 6 weeks since Apple bought Lala and I’ve spent some time reflecting on the acquisition. When I first heard the news, it sounded like a good fit. After-all, Lala is essentially a web-based version iTunes and has some great technology powering it. It makes sense that Apple would want to buy the next best thing and get some great engineers in the process. However, I didn’t think at the time that Apple’s strategy would become so clear, so soon. Apple’s acquisitions usually take years to come to fruition. Not this time though. TechCrunch recently reported that Apple is planning on transforming iTunes into a cloud-based iTunes.com service, and Lala’s technology is the quickest way to do that. (“Apple’s Secret Cloud Strategy And Why Lala Is Critical“).
Seeing the immediate impact Lala’s technology can have, I began to think about who else was in the bidding war for Lala? Most reports say there were multiple companies interested, so you have to assume the a few of the typical parties were involved; Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, Facebook, & MySpace. Only a couple of those companies stand out as a great fit, Amazon & MySpace. Right now MySpace has too many problems to deal with, so that leaves just one likely suitor… Amazon.
Amazon’s entry into the digital music download space has been game-changing. Prior to Amazon.com/mp3, music lovers had no where to go to purchase non-DRM’d MP3s. We were stuck in the world of buying CDs to rip, buying DRM’d tracks from iTunes, or of course… pirating music. When Amazon came into the market in 2008, their impact was immediately felt as prices began to drop and DRM began to die. This opened the floodgates to other services who also began selling non-DRM’d MP3s, and music streaming became a sustainable business model. Without Amazon’s entry, I suspect little would have changed over the past 2 years. Having competition for Apple is vitally important to the evolution of the media industry. Apple is an amazingly innovative company, but like most companies, they grow content & less innovative without anyone breathing down their back.
As painless as Amazon has tried to make the downloading process when you purchase tracks from their MP3 store, it is still not as smooth and elegant as iTunes. To add insult to injury, once the download is complete, Amazon’s user experience is then transfered over to iTunes (for most users) where the user must import the purchased files to begin listening. Amazon clearly needs to do something about this. Transferring a customer into your rival’s product at the end of the transaction process is a giant flaw in product design. They need to provide their customers a way to stay in an Amazon environment throughout the Purchase->Download->Listen->Manage cycle. This is where their acquisition of Lala would have been perfect.
Had Amazon bought Lala, they would have obtained the engineering team that is hands-down the best at building a web-based media manager. After integrating Amazon MP3 with Lala, they could then integrate the Amazon Video & Kindle management interfaces into the Lala-based manager. Beyond music, video, and books, Amazon could then begin to expand into other areas, perhaps buy a company like Roku and make their streaming video experience end-to-end Amazon as well. We could have had a real competitor to iTunes. Sadly though, Amazon dropped the ball with Lala, especially since the acquisition only cost Apple $17 million. That’s nothing for a company that just spent over a billion dollars to purchase Zappos.
We’re clearly approaching a time where our music devices are going to have constant wireless broadband connections. You won’t have to worry about locally storing music, it can all be hosted in the cloud and streamed to you on demand. This isn’t a brand new concept, but the timing is right for it to finally become mainstream. If Apple is successful in transforming iTunes into iTunes.com, unchallenged, they will likely be able to declare “game over” with music delivery in the US.
Hopefully Amazon sees the writing on the wall and steps up their game to provide a challenge. Is Spotify our only hope?
I just came across one of the coolest music videos I’ve ever seen, and the beauty of it? It was made by a fan, just for the fun of it. Incredible.
Link: Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew.
One of the first things I thought about while watching Gabe’s video was whether this would be yet another take-down viral video because of copyright infringement? But, a group like Grizzly Bear (or their record label) would be crazy to complain about the soundtrack because of the attention it generates for the song.
You could either be a band that removes the soundtrack from someone’s artistic work, infuriating them and accomplishing nothing. Or, you could capitalize off it, much like Chris Brown’s (or his record label’s) decision to not remove the soundtrack from the “JK Wedding Dance” video that ended up boosting him to #4 on the iTunes charts and possibly saved his career.
Another recent example is the use of Barcelona’s “Please Don’t Go” song in a tranquil aquarium video that has been 1.8 million views at the times of this posting. The band was so pleased that they posted a video response to introduce themselves to their new fans and credited the video towards increased albums sales and concert attendance. Instead of saving a career (as in Brown’s case), this very well could make a career for these guys, and all because they lucked out and had a passionate, artistic fan that wanted to showcase both their works, together.
Gabe’s video is yet another great example of how music artists (and any celebrities) for that matter can use their fans to crowdsource ideas and content. Instead of spending thousands or millions to produce a video, you can get really high quality content for next to nothing, all because your fans are passionate about your work and want to be more involved. So get them involved, they want to be, and they’ll reward you for the opportunity.
As a final example, here’s a video from Tilly & The Wall which was completely crowdsourced by their fans. All they did was ask users to send in clips of them singing their song “Rainbows in the Dark” and spliced them all together, making an awesome, fun, and cheap video. Imagine a progressive band like Nine Inch Nails or Radiohead saying they weren’t going going to make a video for their latest single and instead were holding a contest for a fan to make an “official video” for that song and awarding $20k? Contests like that can become a breeding crowd for viral videos, something all musicians are dying for nowdays.
Related reading:
- ‘Pirated’ Youtube Clip Boosts Band’s Album Sales
- Could Viral Wedding Dance Video Save Chris Brown’s Career?
- Interview with Gabe Askew
So a co-worker of mine introduced me to Shakira’s “She Wolf” song today, and wow is it horrid. It got me thinking… What other awful songs are out there polluting the pop charts? Well, here’s 5 that are probably somewhere in my top 50. Maybe someday I’ll post the other 45.
#1 Shakira – She Wolf (2009)
I can’t help but crack up everytime the chorus kicks in, it’s just horrible. And the “Ah-ooooo” 1:35 into the song? What hack producer though that was a good touch?
#2 Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feelin’ (2009)
This song is such a crock of shit. Not that I expected amazingly creative lyrics from the Black Eyed Peas, but c’mon, this song isn’t even trying. Here’s a great review from Cracked.com, Black Eyed Peas Have Officially Written The Worst Song Ever
#3 Rednex – Cotton Eye Joe (1995)
Whoever the hell though mixing techno and country would be a good idea needs to be shot. Oh, and don’t forget about the group’s chartbusting 2002 follow-up, Cotton Eye Joe 2002
#4 Toby Keith – The Angry American (2002)
On the topic of rednecks…
Outraged by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Toby Keith enlisted in the Air Force — no, sorry, he wrote a fight anthem so vengeful, it makes “The Star-Spangled Banner” sound like “Give Peace a Chance.” Though right-wing radio hosts and politicians called him a hero, Keith (who hadn’t had a hit in years) moaned, “It sucks ass that I have to defend myself for being patriotic.” Wrong. You have to defend yourself for celebrating violence and bloodlust.
#5 – Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart (1991)
As if line-dancing really needed a comeback. This is a song that gets stuck in your head, and won’t leave for at least a couple days. So go ahead, click the image, I dare you.
What are some songs you’d add to the list? Add a comment.
I realized I hadn’t yet picked up the latest She Wants Revenge album, so I figured this would be a good chance to check out Amazon’s new MP3 store. 15 non-DRM’d 256kbps tracks for $8.99 is a steal IMO. Thank god there is a place for someone like me to buy music now. I listen to my music on a variety of non-ipod devices, so anything with DRM isn’t really an option for me. While iTunes won’t be going away anytime soon, Apple is already feeling the effects and is realizing their monopoly is just about over.
Anyways, only a couple songs into the album, but I like what I hear so far. So check it out.
